Provide your approximate location on earth.

Above; relevant question.

Here, we'd have second blooms on our Phlox paniculata in September.

Some helenium cultivars look especially nice alongside the phlox, the first bloom of which is currently beginning to tail off (and be deadheaded). We'd have second phlox bloom in September. Fall asters (the very first of which are beginning to bloom now) have a colour range which tends to go very well with that of the phlox. We particularly rely on New England and smooth asters in this regard for looks and longevity.

I am in zone 6 . I had some tall asters a few years back but they did not do well here. I do have some shorter versions starting to bloom now.

Zone 6 occurs over a good share of the planet. Are you in Missouri, Poland, Korea, or where? Particularly if you are having trouble with a standard 'easy' plant, it will help a lot.

My coneflowers bloom concurrently with the black eyed susans. Anemones are budded now & they come in pink or white.

I second the anemones. Also blooming now my way are:

caryopteris

lobelia big blue and tania

Russian sage

veronicas now reblooming wonderfully

Many coreopsis

Asters and mums soon to bloom...

Shortly more folks will answer your question. Meanwhile, you'll get answers quicker to future posts by adding your zone and location to your name. There's someplace on Houzz's 'profile' for zone, but I remember it took a while to find it.

Yes, fall anemones (they spread, though)

There are plenty of pink, purple and white asters....Can't quite remember how to spell this , but Alma Potsche is a particularly vibrant one She needs to be pruned/pinched back mid summer to avoid flopping. Many late bloomers benefit from a pinch back or two during the season

And wonderful perennial chrythemums (more spelling failures at 10 pm) to be planted next spring: Sheffield Pink; Will's Wonderful; Sheffield Yellow; Mary Stoker, Myei Kyo (sp) and the 'Mammouth" series. (see Mammouth Mums on line) "My" rabbits have been the biggest challenge to mums. I have to start protecting them with rabbit deterrent spring-through bloom. It is worth it for the color they bring through Thanksgiving.

Monkshood brings deep purple (or white) and height. I'm tired of it's wilting and water needs and unpredictable tip dieback so I'm not enamoured with it. Lots of other people love it. It is poisonous, but my children never munched garden plants.

Zone 6's are very different. I'm zone 6, but summer doesn't start for us really until July 4th. Actually, according to the old saying we have four seasons--Fall, Winter, Spring, and July 4th.

My plants are limited at this point, but with phlox just now starting I do have blooming some of the newer sterile coreopsis. Also, looks like Joe Pye Weeds would work. And echinacea. The newer coreopsis (Heaven's Gate is a wonderful pink) start before the phlox and would continue on. Might be a nice bridge!

Geranium Rozanne would be in full bloom now until frost and would have been in bloom long before now. It's a twiner, sending its long, non rooting stems into nearby plants in a most gorgeous way.

welcome ...

if you can take pix.. and post pix.. we could ID plants you see around town ... or even visit some local botanical gardens or parks.. and when you see what you want.. we can probably Id it for you ...

or even better .. give us a pic or two of your garden ... and we could make suggestions ... perhaps remove the plants that offend you first ... so we know the space available ...

its hard.. when defining color.. to rely on words alone ...

ken

Geranium 'Roxanne' is a great suggestion. It's a perennial that always seems to do well in mixed perennial beds. It doesn't have to be left to trail, but can be low staked to mound it.

Factors such as dependability and exceptionally long bloom time would make 'Rozanne' easy to recommend.

'Purple Dome' has deep colour and is a short New England aster which is easy to deal with over the years. I'd certainly second magenta 'Alma Pötschke', which is very showy. Personally, I also really like the powder blue of smooth aster 'Bluebird' and would describe it's overall form as delicate/graceful.

How about Little Henry quilled dwarf rudbeckia? Their color is more mellow, their overall shape is pleasant, and their quills are just cool!

MCG

Forgot butterfly bush!

Helenium is stunning. I have a red one that's a shorter variety. It might be "Salsa" , which is part of their "Mariachi" series. They came out with a bunch of Spanish names. Who the heck names these plants? LOL.

How about the liatris in Mycitygarden's post.

I don't think I would put Helenium in a bed with phlox if I wanted a less harsh color. IME they are all quite color saturated and in the range gold to orange-tinted red, not my favorite with the blue-tinted pink of Pholx. I love Heleniums, but don't think that orange-toned reds and blue-toned pinks are ideal in this setting.

Japanese anemone should give you a fall bloom starting in a few weeks from now. I also get a continued bloom from coneflower and I have some nice ironweed (Veronica fasiculate) in bloom now although that might be a bit tall for what you want.

Re liatris and shastra daisies: they're summer bloomers, at least here, and hardly bloom into September. Some Japanese anemones (at least) bloom from later August through much of Fall.

Lespedeza thunbergii cultivars

Perovskia

Imperata cylindrica ‘Rubra’ (grass)

Caryopteris cultivars

Aconitum 'Henry's Spark' (earlier blooming than many other Aconitum)

Persicaria amplexicaulis cultivars

Agastache

Coreopsis ('Red Shift', 'Centre Stage' etc.)

Loving my helenium and would highly recommend it to anyone searching for late season blooms:

Big fan of helenium too, though for their longevity have not found them to be low maintenance.

http://forums2.gardenweb.com/discussions/1678489/its-helenium-time

Really? I can only share my experience, but mine have bloomed beautifully every year and are very hardy. I plan on adding more varieties as soon as can find some space in my garden.

"Every year", Bella rosa; Re your experience; How many helenium (including different helenium) do you garden with? How often do you divide/replant them. If you haven't divided /eplanted them, how long have they been in situ?

If your experience with helenium is different from mine, it might help other readers (several of whom have previously reported the same experience as me) to know what growing conditions might make helenium easier to maintain over years.

Sharing an observation; I'm currently noting both the tall cultivars 'Flammenspiel' and 'Sonnenwunder' blooming at two thirds of their height last year. I take the reason to be that they need more frequent division (and soil enrichment) than I've been giving them.

I've had my heleniums for at least 4 years. I've never divided them. I have 3 varieties - there's a dwarf orange one that hasn't bloomed yet. And yes, they have bloomed reliable for me every year. I don't do anything special to them. I cut them back in the Spring, mulch them well and that's it. I don't spray or water them. That's it. Nothing special.

SB my experience has been the same as bella rosa. I have had H. 'Moerheim Beauty' for well over a decade and have never divided or amended the soil since planting. The same holds for H. 'Loydster Wieck' and 'Sahins Early Flowerer'. These I have had for 5-6 years and both do very well. Height and flowering is consistent year to year.

Nancy another plant for you to consider that has not been mentioned is Limonium latifolium.

Mine also is the same as Bella Rosa. I have had Mardi Gras for at least 5 years and perhaps longer in a couple of spots, as well as some tall, late blooming Heleniums grown from a seed mix. None have required additional water or dividing to grow and bloom well. Some are well-mulched in relatively moist soil, while others are in well-drained unmulched beds.

One thing I would add is to make sure that they are planted in full sun. When I first grew heleniums, I had planted them in partial shade. Dumb. Lesson learned. I dug them up and moved them to a Western (full sun) exposure and they loved it.

I am adding this link from the FAQs in this forum, an oldie but goodie that I have used to add late summer and fall blooming plants to my own garden over the years. Some may be too late blooming for Nancy's purposes, I am not sure.

I'd suspect that 4 or 5 years may be the average life expectancy of Helenium cultivars in perennials gardens, growing in appropriate conditions but without major intervention by a gardener, at least in our own growing and gardening conditions.

Like some others, I've planted and maintained several dozen different Helenium cultivars and selections and note that without major maintenance intervention (especially dividing and replanting with organic matter) the large majority have peterred down to a small part of their initial spread after 4 or 5 years in situ. There's always exceptions, perhaps due to things like a particularly auspicious location (microclimates, etc) within some gardens.

Talking over longer time frames; an example.

I planted this part of this perennial garden in 2002 and maintained the whole garden until the property was sold in 2012. This helenium was purchased as Helenium autumnale (presuambly some garden selection). At the end of four years, it had lost some of the height and was looking rather spent. I subsequently found it necessary to replant the stand every three years to maintain both its vigour and its visual effect.

July 15, 2009 (towards the back)

That Helenium stand from behind on August 31, 2009.

I've never grown Helenium from seed and have only seen 'Sonnenwunder' self-seed in our own garden. Being potentially very tall it pops up yearly in inappropriate spots in our small garden. It's interesting that this cultivar has never reaches it's full height in our garden, unless replanted by me in organic-rich prepared soil.

Interesting, Perennial.all. Our record is 'The Bishop' which we've had for more 15 years (originally salvaged it from another garden), but it's been through three replanting of the mixed perennial bed it's now located in.

Thanks everyone I have so many great ideas for next year. I have been taking pictures,to mark down where I want to add or change things. The blue flower in the above picture is that Larkspur? I'm a sucker for blue flowers!

It's a mint, Nancy; bought as Nepeta grandiflora, but was told it's more likely Nepeta sibirica. Found it needed space and a fair bit of staking.

Delphiniums are much better behaved, but nowhere near as hardy here. However, was very happy with the second blooms on the delphiniums planted this year. Like you, I really like blue as a flower colour.

Monkshood ('Spark's Variety'): this August 18.

Beautiful!

Bella rosa -- the photo of your helenium is truly gorgeous! I do so wish that was a true color depiction, as it is exactly what I want. But unfortunately, going by the leaf color shown, the bloom is not as "pink" as it seems, right? I searched a couple of years ago for a helenium that would be in the bluer spectrum of red and got one that looked quite like yours in their photo, but in my garden it is more of a dark rusty-red. Still a nice plant, and doing well, but NOT the color desired, lol.